


paper rings

by rain (meggowo)



Series: taz song fics [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Domestic Fluff, Found Family, M/M, Shrimp Fettuccini Alfredo, Songfic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, fuck sazed, i made myself hungry while writing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22997857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meggowo/pseuds/rain
Summary: Kravitz has turned Taako into a sap, and he can't even say that he minds.
Relationships: Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Series: taz song fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652776
Comments: 5
Kudos: 57





	paper rings

**Author's Note:**

> this is a song fic!! surprise!! it's not like the name of the fic is the name of the song i based it on or anything, pshhh, that'd be dumb haha. anyway, its based on the song paper rings by taylor swift which is literally one of the most adorable songs i've ever heard so go give it a listen if you haven't already, lol. this is both the sappiest thing i have ever written and the first taz fic i have ever written so i really hope it's okay, i hope you enjoy it!! please don't mind the characterization too much, i know they're probably a bit ooc, but i am still getting a feel for writing them!!

It was ridiculous how fast Taako had fallen, looking back. He’d never expected Kravitz to enthral him the way he did, hadn’t really wanted him to in the first place, but after looking death in the face Taako hadn’t been able to think anything other than ‘ _oh shit, he’s hot’._ Merle had been loopy from the pain of losing his arm and Magnus had been pumped up about the fight like usual but Taako had been stunned. He’d been beautiful, so beautiful in fact that he’d made a fool of himself the second he opened his mouth.

He’d gone through most of the moon base’s library that night, and the library in Neverwinter the next day as well, just trying to look up information on the grim reaper, which should have been a _major_ sign for him, holy shit, but he’d never been good at this ‘feelings’ biz. Maybe he should have noticed when he was determined enough to let Agnes of all people help him with his mission, the kid was fucking _irritating_ as hell. But no, instead he found himself shoving aside book after book on fucking necromancy, too focussed on his mission to notice as the umbrastaff fell off of the table beside him as he tossed aside a book on liches. Not that it mattered that he’d been so single-minded then, now he could work through Krav’s personal collection which was surprisingly full of more romance novels than necromantic encyclopedias.

He probably should have noticed how captivated he was when Kravitz visited him again after Refuge. He’d been too tired to do much other than stare as Death himself opened a literal rift in space straight into his apartment, but _hatchi matchi_ he’d been through enough that day to have an excuse. Though he couldn’t explain away his dumbass idea of taking the guy on a date to the Chug N’ Squeeze of all places with exhaustion, it’d been a hot second at that point and he’d been fairly adamant about getting at least eight hours of beauty sleep to make up for the fucking hellfire that retrieving the Temporal Chalice had turned into. Did that even count as a date? They’d only spent about five minutes talking business, and the rest had been pretty fun in comparison. Taako had felt like he could trust Kravitz, which was downright _terrifying_. He took things like trust very seriously, he could only really say he’d started to rely on Magnus and Merle recently, though they’d been adventuring together for so long. He wasn’t used to talking about his feelings, it was easier to just deflect and make a joke. Distract people instead of answering their questions. Which is why he found it so daunting when he found himself actually being honest with Krav, or as honest as he could have been without his memories. The night had ended weirdly; Taako had drunk a couple too many glasses of wine but had still managed to make the superior bowl, his umbrastaff had attacked his not-date, and Katvitz had left through another rift, but not before the promise of a (second?) date. Taako had been _reeling_.

There had been more dates after that, never at the same place twice. They’d gone out for dinner to the moon base’s fantasy Olive Garden and consumed more breadsticks than pasta. They’d gone to see a terrible rendition of fantasy Shakespeare’s _Hamlet_ , which they'd heckled the entire time before getting kicked out in the middle of the second-to-last scene. They’d gone fucking _bowling_ for Pan’s sake. They’d spent weeks just chasing each other around, not labelling their relationship, just fooling around and trying to ignore the feelings it was clear that they had both caught. Taako would escape the Director’s intense training every chance he got, though sometimes he was just too tired to go out. He had to admit that as much as he loved dressing up and going somewhere fancy with Krav, his favourite date nights were the ones where his body hurt too much from training to do much more than sit on the couch, sip wine, and talk. Taako could remember one of the last nights before Wonderland ending up just like that, with Kravitz’s head on his shoulder, laughing into his neck. He’d spilt wine on one of his favourite shirts because of it, but he still couldn’t find it in himself to be too upset about it. He’d stayed over that night, and Taako had been so unused to having someone else in his bed that he’d spent a good amount of the night just watching the slow rise and fall of Krav’s chest as he slept. Neither of them really needed to sleep, but Kravitz had told him once that he liked to. He said it made him feel more alive, more human.

Taako is jostled from his thoughts by the sound of a rift opening up in the sitting room in front of him, and he pulls himself away from the recipe book that sits ignored yet still perched precariously on his knees. He bunny-ears the page he’d been on before he’d gotten lost in thought, a recipe for lavender-lemon sugar cookies, and closes it, placing it on the coffee table in front of him as Kravitz steps into the room and closes the portal behind him. He’s still in his work clothes, but as he catches sight of Taako and relaxes slightly his cloak melts off of his body and skin grows on his bones. His suit is as pristine and clean as it was when he left a couple days ago, and his hair is still plaited neatly in the tight braids Taako had done for him last weekend. He smiles warmly, and Taako feels the stress melt from his frame. He rises to his feet, smiling, and rushes forward, pulling his boyfriend into his arms and giving him a big, sloppy smooch for his troubles. He feels Kravitz smirk into the kiss.

“Miss me?” he says as soon as he pulls back, and Taako rolls his eyes, still grinning.

“What do you fucking think, babe?”

Kravitz kisses him again, shorter this time. “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”

Taako shoves him away, but not before stealing one more peck. “Maybe you’ll find out after you shower. You kind of stink.”

He laughs when he hears Krav’s protests about how he _does not stink, thank you very much, my body isn’t even technically real-_ but he ignores them and heads towards the kitchen, leaving his boyfriend to grumble and follow him out of the room. He watches as he heads off to their bedroom to get changed, and thinks, not for the first time, that he loves him. He doesn’t know how he landed this perfect, stupid, dorky guy, but he doesn’t want to challenge it. Falling in love with him had been an accident, and a huge fucking one at that, but he’s definitely happy that it happened. He hears Kravitz’s low grumbling from the other room as he changes, but he can hear the smile in his voice. He knows him too well by now for something that small to go over his head.

Kravitz walks back into the room, a huge, fake pout on his face, wearing a pair of sweatpants, fuzzy socks, and a t-shirt so old that the lettering has faded too much to be readable, and Taako gives himself a moment to swoon before he starts on dinner. His man is fine no matter what he’s wearing, can’t blame him for that. He’s only just starting dinner prep when Krav walks over and hugs him from behind, hanging off of him like a huge-ass barnacle as he cooks. He tries to ignore him to the best of his capabilities, even cooking without magic is still a bit stressful at this point, but Kravitz starts pressing tiny kisses into his shoulder, so small he can barely feel them, and _fuck, his man is cold._ He’d still rather the stupid hug, but maybe he should go light the fireplace or something. Unfortunately, Taako can’t hold back a shiver, and Kravitz immediately starts to pull away.

“Shit, sorry, I completely forgot.”

Taako rolls his eyes again and grabs his wrists, pulling his arms back around himself. “Did I tell you to stop? Taako’s with you even if it makes him blue, motherfucker.”

Krav laughs and seems to accept it, “Okay, but just let me know if it gets to be too much,” he says, wrapping his arms around him snugly once more.

Taako sighs dramatically as if they haven’t had this conversation before, “Fuck off, I’ll be turning on the stove in a second and then it’ll warm up in here.”

“Wait, am I supposed to fuck off or stay here, you’re sending me mixed signals.”

Taako pinches a cold, clammy hand. “Fuck you. Stay here.”

Kravitz rests his head on his shoulder and chuckles in his ear.

Dinner takes a while, and Krav stays on him like a larger than life backpack the entire time. The weight is a comforting one on his shoulders, and despite the cold (which does slowly melt away once the stove has been turned on), Taako can’t find it to be anything but endearing. The house they’ve built together is so sickeningly domestic that he shouldn’t be able to stand it, but Taako can’t help but love it too. The kitchen is large and perfect, not that he would accept anything but the best. They’d painted the walls themselves and Magnus had built the furniture. The windowsill is lined with small colourful pots of herbs gifted to them by Merle, and the bookshelf in the corner is stacked full of a mixture of cookbooks from Lucretia, Caleb Cleveland: Kid Cop novels, and a couple of his and Lup’s old recipe boxes. The counters are smooth quartz, transmuted perfectly by Taako himself. He still feels anxious cooking on them sometimes, but his family has survived many a meal cooked upon them so he knows they’re safe.

It’s still hard sometimes. However much he knows that the incident in Glamour Springs hadn’t been his fault, the fear is still there. It’s been years at this point, but he doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to cook with magic again, after Sazed. Everyone’s been telling him to take his time, he’ll get there eventually, but he still can’t stop the small surge of panic he gets every time someone takes a first bite of something he’s made. He sighs, softly, and moves from where he’s chopping up onion over to the stove to sauté it along with some garlic. He distracts himself from his thoughts with the pasta, lugging his very tactile boyfriend across the kitchen with him to fill a pot with water to boil, before starting on the sauce. The shrimp should take the least amount of time, so he should be able to cook them in the sauce after it thickens. He can’t be too upset about Sazed, even the stupid trauma he put Taako through is part of what led him here, to this warm little Neverwinter apartment surrounded by friends and family and Kravitz, who seems to be falling asleep on his shoulder. Taako feels an intense fondness he’s never expected from himself. It’s only been a couple of months since the Day of Story and Song and in all reality, they haven’t really been dating long enough to have moved in together already, but Taako can’t find it in himself to regret it. When he’s put his mind to something he’s not one to, as the kids say, ‘fuck around’.

Kravitz turns his head to press a kiss into Taako’s cheek, pulling him from his thoughts, and Taako feels that intense warmth settle in his chest again despite the literal ice pack he has hanging off of him. He finds himself laughing.

“You missed!”

Kravitz pulls away from him only to turn him around in his arms and steal a real kiss which Taako turns it into a third. Kravitz makes him feel like he’s been waiting his whole life for him. He feels like home. And it’s then, as they’re both grinning like fools at each other, as Taako leans forward again and again to taste this beautiful man’s laughter that he realizes. He wants to marry the fuck out of him. He doesn’t care when and he doesn’t care where, he doesn’t care if they do it in a ditch after rolling around in a rainstorm, he just wants to spend the rest of his life with this absolute asshole.

He pulls his stupid boyfriend into another, deeper kiss, tangling his hands in his braids, the clenching in his chest too overwhelming to deal with directly. When he finally pulls away because his stupid mortal body needs to breathe, Kravitz looks starstruck, and Taako feels himself flush. Where does this cute motherfucker get the idea that looking at him like that is okay?

“Taako, please, you’re going to burn something!”

Taako smirks, “Fuck that, you signed up for this.”

And Krav’s laughing again, but he still hugs him back. Taako’s not sure if he loves the sound or the feel of his laughter against him more. _Shit,_ he’s turning into such a _sap,_ Lup’ll never let him live this down if she ever finds out. And as if all of his sappy thoughts have decided to dogpile on him all at once, it crashes over him just how much he wants this to last, forever if possible, no matter how chaotic or shitty their lives get. He tightens his arms around him and rests his head on his shoulder.

“I love you.” He says quietly, suddenly serious. It’s not the first time he’s said it and there’s no way it’ll be the last, but he’s never meant it so intensely before.

Kravitz’s hands are cool on his back, “I love you too.”

And Taako’s barely thinking when he breathes, “Let’s get married.”

Krav laughs because of course he does.

“No, seriously,” Taako pulls away enough to look at his face, “Let’s go get hitched right fucking now.”

His boyfriend only smiles, eyes glinting in the light from the pot lights above them, “Did you even plan this out? We don’t even have rings!”

Taako grins back, giddily, “Fuck, bubbeleh, you know how much I love shiny shit, but I would marry you with paper rings, for fuck’s sake!”

Kravitz’s eyes go all mushy like they do whenever he’s about to say something sappy, and instead of waiting to hear it, Taako pulls him in for another slow kiss. They stand there quietly for a moment afterwards, and Taako really doesn’t know what to say. Thank Pan that Krav is the one who’s better with words.

“Listen, I am completely for getting married, but are you sure you want to do this now? Lup is going to be extremely mad if she doesn’t get to be your maid of honour, and quite frankly she scares me a little.”

Taako laughs brightly, “Whatever you want, dude, all I know is that you’re the one I want.”

**Author's Note:**

> come scream at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/xsunshowerx)!!!
> 
> (also i made a [kofi](https://ko-fi.com/rainsmith), so if you enjoyed this or any of my other work and would like to support me, i would really appreciate it!)


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